PORTLAND, Maine - New England's shuttered shrimp fishery will not be allowed to reopen this winter.
An arm of the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided on Thursday that it will keep the fishery closed because of concerns about poor reproduction in a warming ocean.
The fishery has been shut down since 2013. It was mostly based in Maine when it was open, though some fishermen brought the shrimp ashore in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Some of the shrimp will still be available via research vessels. Regulators decided to expand the amount that the research vessels can catch from 22 metric tons to 53 metric tons in 2017.
The small, pinkish, sweet-tasting shrimp were a popular winter seafood item in New England and beyond when the fishery was open.